• Section 1 - Preamble
• Section 2 - Purpose
• Section 3 - Scope
• Section 4 - Procedure
• Intent
• Publishing Open Educational Resources
• Copyright
• Quality assurance
• Responsibilities
• Section 5 - Definitions
• Section 6 - Non-Compliance

Section 1 - Preamble

(1) Charles Darwin University ('the University', 'CDU') seeks to create a student experience where every student can connect and succeed.

(2) The University supports the use and production of Open Educational Resources in any format or medium, not limited to textbooks. Open Educational Resources enable the sharing of information, contribute to higher quality learning materials and effective teaching, enhance research outputs, and allow access to inclusive and equitable quality education.

(3) Open Educational Resources offer opportunities for increased participation within and beyond the University community and enhance the visibility of the University.

Section 2 - Purpose

(4) This procedure outlines the University's expectations regarding the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and provides guidance for Open Educational Practice in learning, teaching, and research.

Section 3 - Scope

(5) This procedure applies to all University staff, students, and researchers who use or create OER.

(6) This procedure should be read in conjunction with:

1. the Open Access Policy and Intellectual Property Policy;
2. the Copyright Policy and Copyright Procedure; and
3. supporting information available on the University’s OER Guide.

Section 4 - Procedure

(7) The University encourages staff, students, and researchers to use, create, and publish OER to enhance the quality of the student experience.

Intent

(8) The use and creation of OER reduces costs and increases accessibility to higher education resources for students. 

(9) In using OER, the University will:

1. aim to have free and open resources available to as many students of the University as possible throughout their first year and, where practical, across the entire duration of their course of study;
2. ensure that resources published on the University’s OER platforms are open and publicly available to people external to the University; and
3. encourage students to be co-creators of knowledge in a more equitable student learning experience.

Publishing Open Educational Resources

(10) The University recommends that text or multimedia resources are published in an appropriate repository or public-access website to maximise discovery and use by others. Staff are encouraged to share OER resources to Creative Commons (CC) repositories. When publishing OER please refer to the OER Guide or seek advice from Library Services.

Copyright

(11) The University encourages and supports the use of OER that:

1. are published under a Creative Commons or similar open licence that facilitates reuse, remix, redistribution, and adaptation to avoid copyright infringement;
2. can be used in combination with Section 113P statutory licensed content, Tertiary Music Licensed content, and Section 200AB content for University courses; and
3. can be used in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), social media, or in digital platforms and other services that are publicly available. 

(12) A CC BY-NC-ND licence may be applied to protect First Nations cultural content from being used in derivative works without approval where appropriate.

(13) When using OER, students and staff must comply with the terms of the licence of use. 

(14) It is the responsibility of staff and students to ensure that they have the necessary rights to publish an OER and that all resources published comply with all relevant policies, including the Copyright Policy, Copyright Procedure, and Intellectual Property Policy. When creating and publishing OER, the copyright owner(s), author(s), date, and Creative Commons licence applied must be visibly attributed. 

(15) For information about using and reproducing copyright material, please see the Copyright Policy and Copyright Procedure.

Quality assurance

(16) The OER Team is responsible for the review and maintenance of OER material published within the University. This team will review OER quality, currency, copyright, and legal concerns prior to publication, consulting experts as required. 

Responsibilities

The University

(17) The University will ensure that:

1. policies, facilities, and processes are in place for the safe and secure storage and management of OER materials to maximise the potential for future use and reuse of OER;
2. templates, systems, and training are available for the creation, adoption, adaption, and management of open educational materials;
3. advice is available on agreements and copyright licences for OER; and
4. training and education is available to promote and support the responsible creation, adoption, and adaptation of OER.

OER team

(18) Library Services, in partnership with Teaching and Learning Connect, is responsible for:

1. the development and maintenance of the University’s OER platforms. This includes the review of existing content, as well as proposed content to ensure that all materials on the platform are open and publicly available;
2. providing copyright guidance and support to academics and students in the creation, adoption, and adapting of OER within the University;
3. onboarding and induction of academic staff in the use of the University’s OER platforms;
4. the creation and maintenance of the OER Guide; 
5. providing professional development opportunities in OER and OER platforms; and
6. the promotion and advocacy of OER within the University community.

Authors

(19) The Lead Author of an OER has primary responsibility for ensuring that open educational content and materials are managed correctly, and appropriate records are maintained.

(20) Authors are responsible for:

1. the completion of any relevant agreements or orientation. Authors using the Pressbooks platform must complete a Staff Agreement to Publish CC and ensuring they have undertaken an orientation session with a Digital Learning Designer;
2. the retention of clear and accurate records of their open educational materials;
3. ensuring they hold the necessary rights to publish an OER and verifying that all resources published comply with all relevant policies;
4. the retention and production on request of all relevant approvals, such as ethics and financial, receipts and consent forms;
5. respecting any project-specific conditions of consent and protecting the confidentiality and privacy of data by complying with relevant legislation and University policies and procedures;
6. putting in place agreements between institutions for managing responsibilities associated with the creation of OER while following the University’s policies and procedures for OER in multi-institutional or collaborative projects; and
7. supporting students as co-authors in the creation of OER.

Students

(21) Students have an important role to play as both co-contributors to and consumers of OER. Their responsibilities include:

1. the retention of clear and accurate records of the open educational materials they have contributed to; and
2. ensuring they hold the necessary rights to publish an OER and that all resources published comply with all relevant policies (e.g. the Copyright Policy, Copyright Procedure, and Intellectual Property Policy).

Section 5 - Definitions

(22) Open Educational Resources: Learning, teaching, and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others.

Section 6 - Non-Compliance

(23) Non-compliance with Governance Documents is considered a breach of the Code of Conduct - Employees or the Code of Conduct - Students, as applicable, and is treated seriously by the University. Reports of concerns about non-compliance will be managed in accordance with the applicable disciplinary procedures outlined in the Charles Darwin University and Union Enterprise Agreement 2025 and the Code of Conduct - Students.

(24) Complaints may be raised in accordance with the Complaints and Grievance Policy and Procedure - Employees and Complaints Policy - Students.

(25) All staff members have an individual responsibility to raise any suspicion, allegation or report of fraud or corruption in accordance with the Fraud and Corruption Control Policy and Whistleblower Reporting (Improper Conduct) Procedure.